Section 6-16-1603 - AdministrationBeginning in the 2023-2024 school year, the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education shall administer the Arkansas High-Impact Tutoring Pilot Program, which shall include without limitation:
(1) Determining: (A) Program requirements;(B) Student eligibility criteria, which shall consider without limitation the academic performance of student groups across grades and subjects; and(C) A process for providing competitive grant funding to each public school district and open-enrollment public charter school participating in the program for purposes of providing in-school, high-impact tutoring;(2) Approving and making publicly available on the division's website participating public school district and open-enrollment public charter school tutoring program plans;(3) Identifying and communicating allowable uses for grant funding, as permitted by state and federal law, which may include without limitation:(A) Hiring or contracting for tutors or providing stipends or other incentives to paraprofessionals, retired teachers, and community organizations to ensure maximum tutoring capacity;(B) Developing instructional materials and related supplies;(C) Covering administrative expenses;(D) Covering costs associated with technology-enabled tutoring solutions and related devices;(E) Contracting with approved tutoring providers for products and services related to high-impact tutoring; and(F) Other uses designed to increase the effectiveness of the Arkansas High-Impact Tutoring Program;(4) Providing training, technical assistance, and guidance, including without limitation the topic of sustaining of high-impact tutoring through existing funding streams to participating public school districts and open-enrollment public charter schools conducting in-school, high-impact tutoring;(5) Awarding and distributing program grants, subject to legislative appropriation of available funding;(6) Pursuing available private and federal grant funding to expand the state investment in the program;(7) Creating reporting templates, procedures, and definitions for reporting metrics for participating public school districts and open-enrollment public charter schools to use in collecting and reporting tutoring-related data to the division;(8) Including required data reports within existing state data reporting structures to streamline the data collection process for participating public school districts and open-enrollment public charter schools, where feasible;(9) Identifying, vetting, and creating an approved list of high-impact tutoring providers and other tutoring models that may be used by participating public school districts and open-enrollment public charter schools; and(10) Providing annually to the General Assembly a report that includes without limitation the following:(A) Data regarding participating public school students' access to high-impact tutoring and program implementation, including by geography, grade span, and subject based on program requirements, including without limitation: (i) How data required under this subdivision (10)(A) have changed over time;(ii) The number of students who received high-impact tutoring;(iii) The attendance of students who received high-impact tutoring in the program; and(iv) The number of students eligible for high-impact tutoring;(B) Data on achievement and growth outcomes from participating public school students;(C) Program successes and challenges;(D) Recommendations for policy changes in future years in order to ensure every child in Arkansas can access high-impact tutoring as needed; and(E) An overview of actions taken to support every participating public school district and open-enrollment public charter school to ensure that high-impact tutoring is available to every eligible child in Arkansas.Added by Act 2023, No. 237,§ 20, eff. 3/8/2023.